diablo divine
by Tabine
Summary: "a Sanskrit alphabet / unholy apple tree / seven flowers." Alejandro, Noah, and a relationship that is entirely their own. Rated for mentions of mature themes.


**tentación | temptation  
**_to fall from these great heights would only be fatal_

* * *

Noah isn't entirely sure which is worse — the fact that Alejandro has him pinned against the scratched and dented wall in the cargo hold of this god-forsaken flying metal deathtrap and doing things with his lips and tongue and teeth that really _should_ be considered illegal given that it's _Alejandro_, or Noah's own growing realization that the odd sensation coiling low in his belly was not, in fact, food poisoning caused by Chef's poor excuse for food, but rather _arousal_, induced by that same devilishly talented mouth, and the damnably smug young man it belonged to.

This had to stop. "Get away from me." Noah puts his hands on Alejandro's shoulders, but finds he cannot bring himself to push his taller, stronger teammate away. "I don't know if this is your way of asking someone to make an alliance with you or what, and I don't care; I never agreed to this."

Alejandro raises an eyebrow, expression one of obvious amusement. "_Sí_, but I do not recall you disagreeing with it, either." He flashes a knowing smirk, allowing his hands to rest comfortably on Noah's waist, and Noah finds his smile has a rather uncanny resemblance to that of a crocodile. _Predatory._ "Shall I take it as a form of tacit compliance, then?"

"Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not." The words are out of Noah's mouth before he even realizes he is the one to say them, and the sensation in his belly is immediately joined by the familiar sting of embarrassment; Noah feels the back of his neck grow warm, the sensation spreading all the way up to the tips of his ears, and he knows his face must be as red as Tyler's tracksuit; his only consolation is the light in the cargo hold is dim enough that Alejandro can't see it properly. "No comment." At least, he hopes so. In any case, if only through sheer stubbornness, Noah refuses to seem weak in front of the game's most threatening newcomer.

The smirk grows wider, into a toothy grin of self-satisfaction, and Alejandro leans closer, lips barely a hairsbreadth away from Noah's own. "Are you _flirting_ with me, little one?" Their lips brush against each other, the split second of contact sending a jolt of electricity down Noah's spine. "Perhaps the temptation of a kiss is more powerful than I had thought."

With a shake of his head, Noah forces himself to speak, though his voice is far softer and more hesitant than he expects it to be. "That's not it." He glares, but for some reason, he cannot bring himself to look into the hungry green eyes above him, and Noah instead focuses his gaze on the silver bull-head pendent that hangs from the chain around Alejandro's neck. "You're like a snake. I don't trust you."

To Noah's surprise, the comparison seems to amuse the taller man more than it offends him. "A snake, am I? I suppose I have been called worse — and the simile _is_ fitting in a way, is it not?" One hand trails lower as Alejandro's mouth moves from Noah's mouth to his ear. "But I must admit, I am a fan of all these Biblical allegories. They are almost poetic, in a way; I never would have expected such comments from you." Noah feels his lips curve in yet another self-satisfied smirk. "Does that make you a mongoose then, _Noah-ji_?"

"I take it back." Noah suppresses a shudder and closes his eyes. "I take everything back. You're not a snake — snakes are revered as wise, strong protectors, and you're nothing like that." He takes a breath. "You're an eel. A slimy, oily, cold-blooded _eel_." He feels Alejandro tense up and then step away slowly, but he doesn't say a word, and Noah continues to keep his eyes shut. Long moments pass, until Noah comes to the realization that he can no longer feel Alejandro's presence. Slowly, Noah opens his eyes, only to find that it is just him in the cargo hold,now, completely alone.

Blinking, Noah glances around him quickly. His eyes dart to what he thinks is movement in the shadows at the far end of the hold, but it is so fleet, he wonders if he simply imagined it, this time allowing himself to shudder freely at the thought.

Chris's voice booms through the plane's speakers, then, with some asinine announcement or another about dinner, and with one final shudder, Noah directs himself toward the main body of the plane, musing almost ominously to himself what his next encounter with Alejandro might bring, for as loathe as he was to admit it, even Noah had been swayed by the same temptation that had already resulted in so many eliminations — he could only hope that his was not the next.

* * *

Ultimately, this will become yet another collection of ficlets and drabbles, in this case ones about Alejandro and Noah. Thus far, this alone is the darkest piece of ever written for _Total Drama_ to date, though in a way I rather like it — then again, I will be the first person to admit that my speciality when writing fanfiction is darkfic and angst (I was/am, ah, rather known for it, actually) so. This was a really nice reprieve from what's become my "usual" fare, as of late.

Speaking of, this piece in particular. Not much to say — the title is Spanish for "temptation" (I was half-tempted to title it "Within Temptation", actually), with part of the "tagline", so to speak, taken from the lyrics of the song "Adam's Murmur" by Cynic. Also, the fic started off as a response to one of the NSFW prompts on the OTP Prompts tumblr (specifically this one) before it morphed into… well. You guys read it.

The Biblical allegories were entirely unplanned, and just sort of wrote themselves. My sincerest apologies to anyone offended by it, as it was completely unintentional. Somewhat relatedly, however: I'm slowly getting this mental image of a rather Lucifer-esque AU (-ish) version of Alejandro ingrained into my head, and even though I try to avoid _really_ horribly dark things when it comes to cartoons that are meant to be lighthearted, I think I like this mental image a bit _too_ much.

Additionally, in India, particularly the northern states, adding the suffix _-ji_ to the end of a person's name is a sign of respect/formality (sort of like the Japanese _-san_, and then some). Of course, this being Alejandro, it's safe to assume he used it mockingly when referring to Noah as idea of Noah and Alejandro being a mongoose and a snake/cobra respectively keeps becoming more and more appealing every time I think about it.


End file.
